Vending apparatus.



R. J. BELL.

l VENDING APPARATUS.

` APPLICATION FILED DEGA, 1913. l p 1 2399? l v A* Patented Dec. 29,1914` 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 R. J. BELL.

VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DB0. 4, 191s.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

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ROBERT J. BELL, 0F GCEAN VIEW, VIRGINIA.

VENDING APPARATUS.

Maasai.

Application led December 4, 1913.

To all/whom it ma concern.'

Be it known t at 1, ROBERT J. BELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ocean View, in the countyT of Norfolk and State of Virginia,have invented new and useful Improvements i'n Vending Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to vending apparatus.

An ob'ect of the invention is the provision o apparatus of thischaracter for vending packages of cigarettes, tobacco in bag form, plugform, etc.

Another object of the invention is the provision ofmechanis'm wherebydi'erent grades or selected brands of tobaccos may be readily visible tothe purchaser and actively delivered to him in predetermined quantitieson the de osit of a coin.

Another yobject o the invention is the provision of vending apparatuswherein packages from one or a particular package containing divisionthereof may be freely delivered without'accidentally causing a deliveryof packages from other sub-divisions of the machine.

Another object of the invention is the provision of vendin apparatuswherein ackages from one o' the package containing divisions thereof maybe only delivered to' the person on a deposit of ailurality of coins ofdifferent and designate denomina-` tions.

Another object of the invention is the provision of delivering mechanismwhich will l)be ositively set to a released condition on t e de osit ofa coin and which will lfcondition until actually manipulated by thepurchaser. t

Another object of the invention` 1 s the provision of vending apparatuswherein the be partly advanced .to the purchaser an in a manner whichwill permit the purchaser to entirely remove the packa es from themachine after a prescribed operation of the delivering mechapackages ofvarying sizes may be properly accommodated and associated with thedelivering' mechanism for accurate delivery. -A :further object of theinvention is the provision of vending a paratus ,including "a asingwhich Yis sub- 'vided into a plu- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 11914. serial No. 804,717.

rality of compartments for packages of tobacco of different brands andmeans whereby all of the compartments or divisions may be exposed topermit of aconvenient refilling of the machine.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of vendingapparatus wherein the coins or actuating objects which are employed forthe purpose of controlling the delivering mechanism may be first placedon 'view for the benefit of the salesman, thus enabling him to instantlyascertain as to whether or not coins of proper value have been employedby the purchaser.

1l/*ith these and other objects in View, the invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement ofparts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a perspective View of thevending apparatus; F ig. 2 is a vertical section therethrough; Fig. 3 isa horizontal section therethrough, showing that mechanism of the packagecontaining division of the machine which is influenced on lthe depositof a plu' i rality of coins of given denominations; and

Fig. 4 is a similar view through the ma chine, showing another packagecontaining division thereof and its delivering mechanism which iscontrolled' by a single coin.

The machine comprises avcasing l provided with coin chutes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6and 7, all of which being provided with a single.

slot 8, excepting the chute 7. The latter is provided with coin slots 9and' 10, which in the present instance are shown as being of differentsizes, so as to accommodate coinsv This wall is provided along its loweredge with a plurality of depending pins 13, which extend incorresponding sockets 14 formed in the offset portion 16 of the casing.The said wall 11 carries a suitable lock 16 that may be secured with theadjacenttop wall of the casing, so that the mentioned wall 11 may besecurely held against removal underl Ordinar conditions, while bymanipulating the loc the wall 11 may be removed by the owner of themachine and the interior of the Acasing thus exposed to enable one toreadily refill the machine with packages to be vended. The casing isdivided interiorly into a number of sub-divisions which correspond withlthe number of coin chutes hereinbefore mentioned, the said chutes beinglocated directly behind said sub-divisions for a purpose to behereinafter explained.

At the bottom of each of the compartments or sub-divisions, exceptingthat subdivision or compartment with which the coin chute 7 isassociated,'is a delivering mechanism 16, consisting of a horizontalslide 17 on which the packages to be vended are adapted to rest, asclearly shown in Fig. 2. This slide is provided with a verticallyrisingdelivering projection 18 which normally rests directly at the back ofthe lower package and which is designed to move the package in thedirection of the delivering tube 19, at the front of the machine on aprescribed manipulation of the slide. The said tube 19 extendsapproximately at an obtuse angle tothe direction of the slide,

so as to present the package to the angular position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2. The inner open end of the tube is provided with agravitationally operated gate 20, which is opened through the slidingaction of the package on the delivery of the latter and which isnormally closed so as to prevent one from taking the packages byimplements or devices that may be inserted through the delivering tube19. In order to prevent the tampering of the gate 20 and to assure apositive locking of the same, I provide on the slide 17 at a pointforwardl of the gate 20, an upstanding lug 20', whlc is betterillustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing. The lower wall of the deliveringtube 19 directly overlies the slide 17, so that the packages may befreely guided into the tube when the slide is moved to a deliveringposition. At the front the slide is provlded with an angular extension21, to which is secured a hand-actuated knob 22.

At the back, the slide 17 is provided with a keeper plate 23 having aslot 24 therein.

Within the casing is a pivoted dog 25 having a locking end 26 which isnormally projected through the slot 24 of the keeper plate 23, and whichis provided with a hook 26 that extends over one side of the keeperplate normally, so as to hold the slide against movement. The surface 27of the hook of said pivoted dog is tapered for a purpose to behereinafter explained. Said dog 1s provided with a tail 28, theterminals of which being curved longitudinally and extended in to theadjacent coin slot, as shown in Fig. 2, completely traversing the slot,whereby to obstruct the assage of the com in the slot. The tail o thesaid dog also extends through a slot 29 in one of the walls of the coinslot. The locking end of the dog is normally positioned relatively of`the wall 30 of the slot 24, whereby it is slightly spaced therefrom-and for a distance exceeding the width of the shoulder of the hook 26.This construction is preferred in order that the said locking end of thedog may be brought to engage against the wall 30 of the mentioned slot24 when the weight of the coin is directly supported upon the tail 28 ofthe dog. It is now seen that under the applied weight or action of thecoin against the tail of the pivoted dog, the keeper-engaging end of thelatter will be maintained in a predetermined position relatively of thekeeper and the slide 17 of the delivering mechanism is positively heldreleased for a delivery of a single package to the purchaser. On thereturn of the slide the keeper 23 will engage beneath the surface 27 ofthe pivoted dog and the latter will be automatically re-set for asubsequent action on the'deposit of a coin.

vIn order to etiect an automatic return of the slide after the deliveryofa single package I provide a return spring 31, one end of which beingengaged against an integral portion 32 of the sliade, While the oppositeend of the spring is operatively associated with a lug 33 of the casing.

As lit is the purpose to employ an apparatus wherein may be laced onsale packages of cigarettes or t e like of different brands anddifferent values I pro ose that the pivoted dogs 25 will be proportionedand counterbalanced in a manner which will make them clearly responsiveto coins of different weights and denominations. All ofl the coinchutes,'excepting the chute 7, are intended for the receipt of a singlecoin. The chute 7 is designed so asy to permit of the delivery of apackage on the deposit of two coins, namely, in the present instance,

one coin of a 4live-cent denomination, and a' second coin of a ten-centdenomination, hence the provision of two'separate and distinct ways orpassages 34 and 35. .On referende to Fig. 3, it is seen that thesepassages open directly onto the tails of dogs 36 and 3 the locking endsof which are shown at 38 and are normally enga ed with a keeper 39 whichis substantially identical with the form of keeper 23 hereinbeforereferred to. Through this arrangement of a set of dogs, it is seen thatit will be necessary in order for the operator to receive the package todeposit in the subdivisions of the chute, coins of the describeddenominations.

Beneath the coin controlled dog of each chute is a spring 40 having acoin-engaging end 41 which extends in the direction of a transparentpanel 42. arranged in the wall of the casing at the back thereof so thatafter the coin drops from the dog it will be agiagaom coin as itleavesthe dog is adapted to cause the coin held by the spring to bedeposited in a coin drawer 43 which is slidably or otherwise suitablymounted in the bottom of the casing.

In order that the cigarettes or articles of merchandise may besatisfactorily distinguished from each other, I preferably mount uponthe front of the casing in the presence of each of the articlecontaining sub-divisions thereof a guide 44, in which may be mounted acard 45 containing the name of the article on sale.

While it is only mentioned that at least one of the chutes for receivingthe coins is sub-divided into two ways for the passage of the coins, itis to be understood that any number of ways maybe provided, and thatthey may be constructed to receive vcoins in which all are of the samedenomination if such necessity may arise.

I claim:

In vending apparatus a merchandise magslide mounted in the magazine, aslottedkeeper plate carried by the slide, a nose formed-on the dog androvided with a .beveled surface,' the tail o the dog having freeengagement with the shoulder so that the latter serves to hold the noseof the dog in a position to permit of the passage thereof through theslot of said keeper, the dog when engaged with the keeper serving tohold the slide against movement in one direction and 'means for holdinsaid slide against movement in an opposite direction when the nose ofthe dog is engaged with the keeper.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature in presence of two witnesses. l

. v .I ROBERT J. BELL. Witnesses: l

JAMES A. KOEHL, E. EnMoNsToN, Jr.

